Door operating mechanism



March 22, 1960 G MARMONT ETAL 2,929,623

DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 18, 1956 GEORGE H.MARMONZ MELBOURNE A. LIFE uvmvrons,

March 22, 1960 G MARMQNT ETAL 2,929,623

DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM INVENTORS MARMONT MEL awn/v5 A L /P/? 2Sheets-Sheet 2 GEORGE h.

Filed June 18, 1956 United States Patent noon OPERATING MECHANISM GeorgeH. Marmont, Los Angeles, and Melbourne A.

Lipp, Inglewood, Califi, assignors, by mesne assignments, to The DaltonFoundries, Inc., Warsaw, Ind., a corporation of Indiana Application June18, 1956, Serial No. 591,839

6 Claims. (Cl. 268-74) This invention relates in general to devices foroperating closures and relates in particular to a simple power drivendevice for opening and closing them.

it is an object of the invention to provide a simple and dependabledevice, adapted to be remotely controlled for opening and closing doormembers. Herein an embodiment of the invention will be described whichis especially suited for the opening and closing of an overhead garagedoor, but it is to be understood that the specific terminology employedin connection with doors for garages, for example, is not intended toplace a limitation on the type of closure with which the invention maybe employed.

Garage doors of the overhead type are supported and/ or guided so thatthey may be moved upwardly from vertical, doorway-closing position to araised position in a substantially horizontal plane contiguous to theupper margin of the doorway. It is an object of the invention to providea door actuator having means, adapted to remote control, for applyingpower to move the door downwardly from raised position to closedposition against the force of counter-balancing means such as a springwhich is capable of moving the door from closed to open position when alatching or holding mechanism of the device is released.

It is an object of the invention to provide a door actuator which may beelectrically controlled from a switch which may be manually actuated orhas means of actuation responding to a transmitted wave originating, forexample, in apparatus carried by an automotive vehicle.

It is an object of the invention to provide a door closing mechanismhaving means for yieldably applying a force, such as a spring orcounterweight for example, tending to move the door in one of itsdirections, and power driven means for moving the door in its oppositedirection of movement, and latch means for holding the door againstmovement by the yieldable means for applying force thereto.

' It is a further object of the invention to provide a door actuatingmechanism wherein the means for moving the door in a direction oppositethe yieldably applied force consists of a flexible line such as a cablearranged to have one end wound upon a reel which is driven through areleasable clutch, reverse rotation of which is prevented by a latch.Herein means are provided for releasing the clutch so that the door maybe moved by the yieldably applied force.

A further object of the invention is to provide a door operatingmechanism which is motor driven and is provided with a motor controllingswitch means for closing an electric circuit through the motor, therebeing means for deenergizing the motor when the door has been moved intoan extreme position.

A further object of the invention is to provide a door operatingmechanism wherein the speed of the motor reduces or the motor stallswhen the door has been moved 1 into its extreme position, and whereinthe means for deenergizing the motor responds to a reduction in speed orstalling of the motor.

2,929,62Si Patented Mar. 22, 196i) In the prefered form of the inventiona latch means acts, when the motor is deenergized, to prevent reverserotation of the motor and thereby holds the door in the position inwhich it has been moved. Simple means are provided for releasing aclutch arranged between the motor and sheave to enable rotation of thesheave in reverse direction and permit the spring, or other yieldableforce exerting means, to move the door into its other position.

Further objects and advantages of the invention may be brought out inthe following part of the specification wherein many small details havebeen described for the purpose of competence of disclosure, withoutintending to limit the scope of the invention which is set forth in theappended claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings which are for illustrativepurposes only:

Fig. 1 is an elevational section schematically showing a preferredembodiment of the invention connected to a garage door and the frametherefor;

Fig. 2 is a face view of the power mechanism taken as indicated by theline 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary elevational view looking rightwardly from theplane 3-3 of Fig. 2; and

Pig. 4 is a fragmentary face view of the switch and control mechanism ofFig. 2 in a second position thereof, and including a wiring diagram ofthe control circuit of the invention.

Fig. 1 shows a garage door member 10* supported by hinge means 11 sothat it may be swung from a vertical position closing the door opening12 defined by a door frame 13, upwardly in clockwise direction to araised horizontal position contiguous to the lintle 14 of the door frame13, as shown by dotted lines 12'. The hinge mechanism 11 includes acounterbalancing tension spring 15 which is connected to the inner endof one of the levers 16 of the hinge mechanism 11. Phantomlines 17indicate one extreme position, namely, the closed position, of a doormember 10, and the dotted lines 12' indicate the other extreme positionof the door member 10.

The invention includes yieldable means for urging the door member intoone of its positions and power operated means for moving it into theother of its positions. As this description proceeds, it will beunderstood that the yieldable means may be employed so as to urge thedoor member 10 into either one of its positions and that the poweroperated means may be then employed to move the door member into theother of its positions. In the form of the invention disclosed, a helperspring 18 is connected to the upper end of the door member 10 and to arafter 19 of the garage, so that it will act in tension to move the doormember in a first direction, namely, upwardly and clockwise, into theposition 12'. An actuator 20 is connected to the door member 10 and theframe member 13 is adapted to act, against the tension of the spring 18to move the door member 10 from the first position 12' thereof,counterclockwise and downwardly into the vertical position 17.

Although it will be understood that the positions of parts may bereversed, the form of the invention disclosed shows the actuator 20 ashaving a power unit 21 which is connected to the upper edge portion ofthe inner face of the door member 10 and a linkage 22 extending from thepower unit 21 and being connected to the lintle member 14 by use of anattaching bracket 23. The link- .age 22 comprises a tape, chain or cable24 which runs .over a sheave 25, mounted contiguous to the upper edgeother, but since only the door member is movably Supported, this forceresults in movement of the door member in counterclockwise directiontoward and into a tern-caucuses position 17 with relation to the'framemember 13.

"The power unit 21, which may. be mounted either on the door or on thelintle of the door frame, includes a base 27 adapted to be secured to asupporting member by screws. Bearing members 28, supported on the base27, carry a shaft 29 which supports the reel 26 and a gear 30. A pinion31 is arranged to drive the gear 30. The pinion 31 is adapted to bedriven by a motor 32, reduction gears 33 and 3.4, a clutch 35 andreduction gears 36'and 3.7. The gear 33 is driven by a rotary member 38,consisting of the shaft of the'motor 32 which is of shaded pole type. Anarrow 39 indicates the direction of rotation ofthe motor when the reel26 is rotating in the direction required to wind the cable 24 thereon.Releasable means 41 are provided for preventing reverse rotation of therotatable member or shaft 38. It comprises :a bracket 42 mounted on therightward outer end of the shaft 38 and having pins 43 supported onopposite sides of the axis of rotation of the shaft 38 and carryingcounterweights 44, the leftward ends 45 of which project beyond theleftward margin of the bracket 42. The releasable means also include astop member 46 which is supported by the motor housing in a position tosurround a portion of the shaft 38, the member 46 having radialshoulders 47 arranged to be engaged by the counterweights when they arein retracted position, these shoulders 47 being positioned so that theywill prevent reverse rotation of the counterweights and the shaft 38supporting the same.

In addition to serving as holding means for the shaft 38, thecounterweights 44 serve also as means for opening the motor circuit whenthe door member has been moved into closed position. A quick actingdouble throw switch 50 is arranged at the end of the shaft 38 in aposition, to be actuated by the movement of the sleeve 49,; The switch50 comprises stationary contacts 51 and 52 disposed on opposite sides ofa movable contact 53. V

The switch 50 has an actuating element 54 supported by a leaf spring 55so that, it normally tends to swing leftward from the, position in whichit is shown in Fig. 2. When the counterweights 44 are, in. retractedposition, the rightward end of the, sleeve 49 swings the member 54 .intothe position in which it is shown in Fig. 2, atv which time a C-spring56 acts between the member. 54 and movable Contact 53 to hold themovable contact. 53 in engagement with the stationary contact 51. Whenthe motor 32 is energized, rotation of the counterweights 44 around theaxis of the shaft 38 causes the counterweights to, swing outwardly,with. consequentv movement of the sleeve 49 leftwardly against thepressure of the spring 48, so that the leaf spring 55 may swing theactuating elenirent 54leftwardly, whereupon the C-spring 56 will snapthe contact 53 rightwardly from engagement with the contact 51 intoengagement with the contact 52.

The clutch 35 includes a drum 58, which is connected tothe gear 34 so asto'rotate therewith around the axis of a supporting shaft 60 and aclutch plate 59 which is fixed on the shaft 60 and is disposed adjacentthe radial wall 62 of the drum 58. The gear 36 is also fixed on .lever63 is rotated in clockwise direction by a cam 66.

The cam 66 is rotatable upon a pin 67 and is afiixed to spaced plates 68having four pins 69 arranged there- 'between. and being positioned uponquadrants of a circle so that it will engage a pin 69 and rotate the cam66 and the plates 68 90 in counterclockwise direction when energizationof the solenoid 70 moves the armature 71 rightwardly from the positionin which it is shown in Fig. 2. The pawl 72 is connected to the armature71 by a pin 74 and is provided with a short laterally projecting lever75 which is pulled leftwardly by a spring 76, the spring 76 therebyserving to rotate the pawl 72 in clockwise direction so that it will beyieldably maintained in operative relation to the pins 69 of the cam 66,and also provide a force to return the armature 71 to the initialposition thereof, shown in Fig. 2, when the solenoid 70 is deenergized.The cam 66 has two shallow peripheral depressions 77 in diametrallyopposed rela-- tion and two relatively deep peripheral notches 78arranged; half-way between the depressions 77. Likewise, each plate 68has two flats 79 corresponding in position to the notches 78. A switch89 is arrangedv adjacent the plates 68 so as to be actuated thereby. Theswitch 80 comprises spring-supported contacts 81 and 82, the contact 82carrying a body of insulating material for engagement with theperipheries of the plates 68, so that the switch 80 will be closed whenthe plates are in the position in which they are shown in Fig. 2.

In Fig. 4, the cam 66 is shown in a position wherein a notch 78 thereofis in engagement with the rear end 65, of the lever 63 so that theclutch plate 59 is remitting the reel 26 to rotate in reverse directionso that the cable 24 will unwind as the spring 18 swings the door member18 into raised position. The switch operating cams or plates 68 are'm-such position that the switch 80 will be open. A main control switch9% is shown, which is normally in open position. This switch '98 may beoperated in any selected manner, manually, electrically by remotecontrol, or by switch operating mechanism which responds to a wavetransmitted from radio equipment mounted on an automotive vehicle.

Closing the switch will result in electric current being carried from apositive source 91thro'ugh a conductor, 92 to the switch contact 51,which is engaged by the movable, switch contactv 53, because the motor32 is at this time inoperative. From the contact 53, the electric,current. will flow through a conductor 93 to one terminal of the. motor32, the other terminal of which is shown as being connected to a ground94. At the same time current will flow from the switch 90 throughthewindingof the solenoid 70, energizing the same-so theclutch andclosing the switch 80 whereupon the positivecurrent source 91 will beconnected through conductors 9.6 and 97 with the switch contact 52.

At the time of the closing of the switch 90*, when the door is in openposition, there will be substantially no load onthe motor 32, for thereason that the tension in thee-able will be at this time released.Therefore, the

energization of the motor as a result of the closing of the switch 90will efiect an instantaneous rotation of the motor shaft and thecounterweights mounted thereon, so that the counterweights willinstantaneously moveoutwardly, retracting the member 49 in leftwarddirection to permit movement of the switch operating part 54 in 80.Operation of the motor will continue until the door 10 is moved intoclosed position and stalling of the motor 32 occurs. The discontinuanceof the rotation of the motor shaft 38 will permit the counterweights 44to swing back into their retracted positions shown in Fig. 2, whereuponthe switch contact 53 will be swung out of engagement with the contact52, breaking the motor circuit through the switch 80 and deenergizingthe motor. The contact 53 at this time will be swung into engagementwith the contact 51, but this will not result in energization of themotor 32 for the reason that the circuit which includes the contact 51will be open at the switch 90. Since the engagement of thecounterweights 44 with the stops 47 at this time prevents reverserotation of the motor shaft 38, the door will be held in closed positionuntil the switch 90 is again momentarily closed so as to energize thesolenoid and effect rotation of the cam members 66 and 68 from thepositions in which they are shown in Fig. 2 to the positions in whichthey are shown in Fig. 4, opening the switch 80 and bringing a notch 78of the cam 66 into alignment with the rear end 65 of the lever 63,allowing the lever 63 to swing in counterclockwise direction and releasethe clutch plate 61 from engagement with the drum 58. The reel 26 maythen rotate in reverse direction and the cable 24 will unwind therefromas the spring 18 pulls the door 10 into open position at a rate ofmovement which is determined by a centrifugal governor 100 which isdisposed within the drum 58. The governor 100 comprises weights 101supported at ends thereof on pins 102 which project from the clutchplate 59, within the cylindrical Wall 103 of the drum 58. These Weights101 have thereon friction shoes 105 adapted for engagement with theinner face of the cylindrical wall 103 when the weights 101 are swungoutwardly by centrifugal force against the retracting action of tensionsprings 107. Since the drum 58 is held stationary on the up cycle, thefunction of the friction shoes 105 of the governor 100 is to limit themaximum speed of rotation of the reel 26 whereby the rate of movement ofthe door 10 from closed to open position is controlled.

In Figs. 1 and 4 is shown the safety equipment which forms part of theinvention. It includes a photoelectrically actuated signal device 109which may be of the type generally employed as an alarm for indicatingthe passage of persons or objects through a doorway. This signal device109 has conductors 118 and 119 which extend to a lamp 112 and aphotoelectric cell 113 which are supported respectively by brackets 110and 111 mounted on the inner face of the door 10 at the lower cornersthereof. The lamp 112 and the cell 113 are positioned inwardly of thelower edge 114 of the door 10 and also inwardly of the transverse brace115 for the lower edge of the door 10. As indicated by dotted lines 117in Fig. 4, a light beam passes parallel to the lower edge 114 of thedoor 10' from the lamp 112 to the photoelectric cell 113. If, during thelowering of the door 10 from the raised position thereof indicated at12' in Fig. 1, the light beam 117 should be interrupted, an electricalimpulse will be transmitted through conductors 120 for the purpose ofactuating a control which will immediately reverse the direction ofmovement of the door 10. For this purpose a relay 121 is provided formomentarily closing the switch 90. The circuit formed by the conductors120 is connected to this solenoid 121 which, if desired, may be actuatedby other means. For example, the conductors 122 and 123, leading to thesolenoid 121 may be connected to a control device, not shown, which isactuated by a received signal consisting of air-transmitted energy andin turn transmits a current impulse to the solenoid 121.

We claim:

1. In a mechanism for effecting movement in first and second directionsof, and thereby opening and closing, a door member with relation to aframe member: means yieldably exerting force on said door member tendingto move it in said first direction; means for moving said 75 2,800,348

door member in said second direction, comprising a linkage having oneend thereof connected to one of said members, means mounted on the otherof said members for applying a force to said linkage to move said doormember in said second direction, said means for applying force to saidlinkage comprising an electric motor arranged when energized to rotatein forward direction, a transmission including a rotary part driven bysaid motor and a clutch for connecting said rotary part to said linkage,means actuating said clutch and electrically energizing said motor sothat said motor will act through said transmission to apply to saidlinkage a force which will move said door member in said seconddirection, means for stopping said motor when said door member reachesthe end of its movement in said second direction, means for preventingrotation of said rotary part when said motor is stopped, whereby saiddoor member will be then held at the end of its movement in said seconddirection by said linkage, said transmission, said rotary part and saidmeans for preventing rotation of said rotary part; and means forreleasing said clutch so that said linkage will be free to move and saiddoor may be then moved in said first direction by said means yieldablyexerting a force on said door member.

2. A mechanism as defined in claim 1 wherein said means for actuatingsaid clutch comprises a lever arranged to be swung back and forth and tothereby effect engagement and disengagement of said clutch, a rotarymember adapted upon partial rotations thereof to move said lever backand forth, and electromagnetically actuated pawl and ratchet means forconsecutively imparting partial rotations to said rotary member.

3. A mechanism as defined in claim 1 having means operating in responseto said door member encountering an obstruction in its path of movementin said second direction to release said clutch so that said door isthen free to be moved in said first direction.

4. A mechanism as defined in claim 1 having a light source mounted onsaid door member near an edge thereof and a photoelectric elementmounted on said door member in spaced relation to said light source toreceive a light beam from said source, and means controlled by saidphotoelectric element and responsive to the interruption of said lightbeam to effect release of said clutch so that said door member is freeto be moved by said force exerting means in said first direction.

5. A mechanism as defined in claim 1 wherein said rotary part hasweights pivotally mounted thereon so as to be swung outwardly bycentrifugal force, spring means arranged to move said weights inwardlytoward the axis of said rotary part to retracted position as the speedof rotation of said rotary part is reduced, means acting in response tomovement of said weights into retracted position to electricallydeenergize said motor and to hold said rotary part from rotation inreverse direction and to thereby prevent movement of said door in saidfirst direction during the time said clutch is actuated.

6. A mechanism as defined in claim 5 having means for releasing saidclutch so that said means for exerting a force on said door member maymove the same in said first direction, and means for controlling therate of movement of said door member in said first direction.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS465,999 Shaw Dec. 29, 1891 871,687 Frink Nov. 19, 1907 1,822,042 Kohl etal. Sept. 8, 1931 2,165,507 Rasmussen July 11, 1939 2,334,981 AckleyNov. 23, 1943 2,346,956 Wold Apr. 18, 1944 2,388,182 Redding et al. Oct.30, 1945 Parsley July 23, 1957

